On August 10, a year and a day after the police murder of Michael Brown, peaceful leaders of the Black Lives Matter movement were arrested in St. Louis, MO, and the government declared a state of emergency. The arrestees included Dr. Cornel West, Deray McKesson, Johnetta "Netta" Elzie, and the Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, among others.
The state of emergency is not that the largely peaceful-yet-distruptive protests have lasted a year - it is that the state keeps gunning down unarmed black lives in the streets. The state of emergency is that young black men are 21 times more likely to be shot dead by police than their white counterparts. The state of emergency is that Sandra Bland died in jail, a place she never would have been if she wasn't a black woman exercising her First Amendment rights. The state of emergency is that the killers of unarmed black Americans like Eric Garner and Rekia Boyd were let off with no charges.
Every time black Americans have an interaction with the police, they know they might die. It's one thing when white environmentalists like me get arrested over Keystone XL - we'll be fine. But when activists like Dr. West, Deray, Netta, and Pastor Sekou get arrested, they are facing death, and they know it. They are selfless and heroic.
Sign the petition to tell the U.S. Attorney: No charges for the Moral Monday activists and #BlackLivesMatter leaders! Then call the office to make an even louder demand, at 314-539-2200.
Image via Netta's Instagram
Release Dr. Cornel West, Deray McKesson, Netta Elzie, the Rev. Osagyefo Sekou, Jasiri X, and all the other peaceful, unarmed Moral Monday #BlackLivesMatter activists arrested on Monday in St. Louis, and file no charges!
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